 I'm a collage artist and poet based in Toronto, Canada, with roots in the
American Deep South. My collage-prints have been exhibited in Canadian
galleries, and my original collages and prints are owned in private
collections in the United States and Canada. In addition, my collages
have been featured on the covers of numerous magazines and books.
The
startling juxtaposition of images is key to my work. Lautreamont, a
nineteenth-century writer, described beauty as “the chance encounter of a
sewing machine and an umbrella on a dissection table.” That statement, which
became a sort of anthem for surrealists, speaks to me of the mysterious charm
that ensues from the dialogue among the images that I marry with scissors and
glue. The images might start telling a narrative, or their meaning might remain
mysterious and absurd.
It’s
important for me as an artist to allow both possibilities: interpretation and
mystery; narrative and an irrationality that resists narrative. The interplay
of these two possibilities constitutes for me the richness and playfulness of
my work. There is magic and meaning – and poetry – in both states.
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